When was the last time anything good happened to Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU)? It has been a while.  With a contract win, with the highlights around its patents, and with the highlight around speedier web traffic, this one rose on a down day.  In fact, Alcatel-Lucent was up 4.7% a $1.55 on the day with less than an hour until the closing bell.

Gold was down big earlier as investors are liquidating everything for a source of liquidity.  So what are gold miners rising handily?  Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (AMEX: GDX) is the go-to ETF for gold mining stocks and offers a great basket of the major global gold players.  This ETF was up 3.6% at $44.10 against a 52-week range of $39.08 to $66.98.  We just highlighted the value and huge upside that the components offer here.

Patriot Coal Corporation (NYSE: PCX) is in trouble and its viability is in question,  Still, yesterday’s news of working with Blackstone trumped a credit rating downgrade today.  The coal player was up 21% at $2.65 on more than 19 million shares as of the end of the day.

Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG) has continued its post-reverse-split surge  and this is up almost 400% from the start of last week.  This is continued buying pressure after Medicare coverage came out.  Even a small capital raise has been ignored.  Shares are up another 37% at $10.23 and the post-split adjusted 52-week range is $1.40 to $36.45.

School Specialty Inc. (NASDAQ: SCHS) is surging simply on a debt refinancing.  That is not your usual rally tool, but the move here is massive. Shares were up 23% at $3.00 in the last hour of trading and the 52-week range is $2.15 to $15.84.

JON C. OGG

24/7 Wall St. screened out selective short interest data with the latest changes from the settlement date of April 30, 2012 versus the prior April 13, 2012 in shares of the following: Alcatel Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU); Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS); Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN); Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND); First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR); Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR); Groupon, Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN); Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI); LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD); Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX); RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH); Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM); and Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI).   Does this make for a “Short-Sell in May and go away!” theme?  The short interest changes are for the April 13 versus March 30 settlement dates, with selective color added if applicable:   Alcatel Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) saw another rise in the short interest but this gain was massive by over 25% to 28.67 million shares in the short interest.  Based on its earnings botch, the short sellers made some real money here.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is not one of our usual short interest names but investors are back to betting against Spain and the PIIGS all over again now that austerity measures are being fought publicly.  The prior gain was a whopping 214% gain in the short interest to 55.7 million shares and the newest gain was only 2.5% to 57.1 million shares.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is back to seeing a rise in the short interest after a prior drop.  Short sellers lifted the short interest by 9.9% to 142.3 million shares.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) saw a small increase ion its short interest, which you know helped to exacerbate that pop from the Microsoft deal while activist investors press on here.  The short interest rose another 3.7% to 19.768 million shares.

According to data from the NYSE and Nasdaq, for the period that ended April 30, shares sold short in Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S) rose 132% t0 139.3 million. The wireless company’s prospects have been burned by the success of AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ). And Sprint’s CEO Dan Hesse agreed to reset his compensation for last year because of shareholder objections about its size.

Shares sold short in Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) rose 28% to 67.2 million. The value of the stock is down by nearly half because of a scandal that has engulfed CEO Aubrey McClendon and his board. McClendon has been taking investments in wells drilled by the company.

Shares short in Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) were higher by 31% to 38.8 million as worries that new CEO Meg Whitman will not be able to repair the firm’s operations soon.

The short interest in Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) rose 25% to 28.7 million. The telecom equipment maker has posted a string of losses as the demand from its cable and telephone corporate clients has fallen.

Shares short in Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) were up 17% to 50.5 million. The company just posted an earnings forecast that drove its shares down on extraordinary volume.

The short interest in new IPO Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) was up 51% to 42 million. The market has started to doubt whether the company’s products are unique enough for its to fend off competition.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Thomson Reuters has estimates of $0.47 EPS and $11.57 billion in revenues.  Guidance is not offered usually until the conference call but the estimates for the current (July) quarter are $0.49 EPS and $11.99 billion in revenue.

The first real inference today is that Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) and Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU) both have slid lower since their earnings.  Juniper looked like it was a stabilization after a really bad drop, but the initial stock pop higher was sold off immediately and its stock price is now under where it was before earnings.  Alcatel-Lucent is now under $1.50 after recently giving a poor earnings report that brings up relevance into question.

Our main reason for putting Cisco as the lynchpin for technology is that it often acts as a preview to Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) as the other off-quarter earnings from the technology leadership.  Oracle has historically been more of a software play but the comparison is still crucial.  Cisco grabs a different part of the enterprise technology spending dollars, but weakness in one may mean weakness in another as technology officers can push orders out further on the horizon.

Cisco has also been in the midst of a restructuring that seems to be mostly complete.  The problem is that shares have slid from recently being above $20.00 down to $18.70.  Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $22.58 and the 52-week range is $13.30 to $21.30. The company’s market cap today is right at $100 billion.

The stock chart may hold the keys to the post-earnings reaction after today.  With a price of $18.70, the 200-day moving average is down at $18.14 and the 50-day moving average is up at $19.96.  In short, Cisco had recovered handily off of its lows in the last year but its stock has been very weak for the last month and $20.15 to $20.20 acted as very strong resistance on the chart throughout April after shares slid from the peak of just over $21.00.

Options traders appear to be braced for a move of up to about $0.75 or so in either direction based upon the speculative call and put options pricing.

Just one suggestion for Cisco not pertaining its earnings call: the investor relations site takes far too long to navigate.  Still, the stock trades at only about 10-times current earnings expectations.  Does that make Cisco a value stock in its turnaround, or is Cisco’s turnaround just a value trap.

We would note one strength from the last quarter… gross margin rose to 61.3% from 60.2% and the cost of sales rose by more than 7%.

Keep in mind that Cisco’s earnings will prelude an investor day presentation by Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) on May 17, 2012 and it will also prelude the Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) earnings report currently penciled in around May 23, 2012.

JON C. OGG

The technology sector needs for Cisco to show that the warnings of spotty spending a month ago were just contextual.  Does Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) have much to do with Cisco?  Technically not a thing if you just use common sense.  The reality is different though.  Apple remains the tech darling of Wall Street but its shares have pulled back and have gotten down almost as low as they were before the huge earnings gap-up in the last couple of weeks.

The first two issues to address are Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) and Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU).  Juniper turned in an earnings report that looked like it was offering a stabilization to a really bad drop, but its stock popped up and then immediately pulled back and the stock is now under where it was before earnings.  Alcatel-Lucent just gave poor results this earnings season and its stock is back under $1.50 per ADR and is floundering as it tries to find some sense of remaining relevant outside of Europe.

The real issue here is Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) with Cisco.  Many analysts do not compare Oracle and Cisco enough because up until lately Oracle was more of a software play.  With Sun under its belt it has datacenter exposure but even if Oracle was to jettison its physical equipment the comparison is still crucial to understand.  While Cisco is a very different part of the enterprise technology dollars to be spent, weakness in one may mean weakness in another as technology officers can push orders out further on the horizon.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is now more and more of a competitor with Cisco as well, even though the company was trying to get rid of the PC unit.  By competing in the datacenter, the former partners now compete.  H-P is also an off-calendar quarterly reporting company and its shares are back down to almost $23.00 and close to a 52-week low.

There is also the old ties to Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK), although this is more historic than present day.  Both companies remain highly challenged and we suspect that their futures will both remain challenged regardless of what Cisco says in its conference call.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSH) recently kept the pace of other IT-outsourcing outfits by warning about a weak IT-spending climate but it was hard to not notice that some of the more fresh weakness was noted as being in North America.  Cisco could easily be in a different bucket here, but we did see this trend as almost unified in the outsourcing segment.

Perhaps the biggest relevance is International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM).  IBM’s services backlog was slightly lower but IBM is still maintaining its long-term goals of $20.00 in earnings per share.  The stock is still within 5% of all-time highs and it has recently juiced up its dividend more than expected.

Cisco is also the last major tech report before Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) updates investors this Thursday.  It has only been about three weeks since Intel’s earnings report and we are only 24 hours or so since the chip and processor giant announced a dividend hike of its own.  Shares of Intel are now off almost $2.00 from the high of $29.27 and the consensus price target is $29.72.

Cisco shares are back under the $19.00 mark after having been at $20.00 as recently as May 1, 2012 and having been at $21.00 as recently as April 3, 2012.  The 52-week trading range is $13.30 to $21.30 and the consensus price target from Thomson Reuters is $22.58.

The Thomson Reuters estimates for Cisco are $0.47 EPS and $11.57 billion in revenue.  Cisco usually offers guidance in the conference call rather than in the press release and those estimates are $0.49 EPS and $11.99 billion in sales for the quarter ahead.  Keep in mind that Cisco trades at a mere 10.2-times its expected earnings for the fiscal year-end of July 2012.

As far as Cisco on the stock charts, this has been very weak and the 50-day moving average was up above at $19.00 and the 200-day moving average was lower around $18.13.  Both of those figures are likely to be a couple of cents different on Wednesday ahead of earnings.

A more detailed preview will appear Wednesday morning ahead of the formal Cisco earnings report showing expectations for cash, margins, options trading, stock charts, and a final revised set of earnings estimates.

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JON C. OGG

The top earnings we are looking at are as follows: Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN); Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA); Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX); The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS); Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO); Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M); Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN); and Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN).

We have taken estimates and price targets from Thomson Reuters consensus estimates and have added in color on each.

The shape of the biotech sector is likely to hinge based on the earnings of Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN).  VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) also reports on Monday but Dendreon has many things that biotech investors want: a product on the market, a controversial story, a stock way off its post-approval highs, a history of soft sales with the promise of better times ahead, and a rather large short interest.  This is a sales story rather than an earnings story: Thomson Reuters expects sales of $81.2 million for the last quarter, $90.1 million for the quarter ahead (the quarter we are in now, and $378.3 million in 2012.  These sales are all from Provenge for late-stage prostate cancer.  This is the one that will set the tone for biotech during the week and this stock is back down closer to $11 after having popped to $15 from $8 earlier this year.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is no longer the leading game company for investors, but it is one of the largest game makers in the world.  Its earnings are also ahead of the larger video game giant Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) which reports later in the week.  This is also considered one of the throw-away quarters of the video game sector.  Thomson Reuters expects E.A. to report $0.17 EPS on $959.56 million in sales, with next quarter expected to be -$0.32 EPS on $580.9 million in sales.  This will mark the year-end report and the growth in the year ahead is expected to go to $1.13 EPS from $0.84 EPS expected and sales are expected to grow to $4.5 billion from $4.17 billion expected.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 24 points to 13,228.24 (0.18%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 19 points (0.61%) to 3,069.20, and the S&P 500 rose 0.24% or more than 3 points to 1,403.37.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $94 at Argus; SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) raised to ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) maintained as ‘neutral’ but target price cut at Credit Suisse; Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/ML, Nomura, and Goldman Sachs; and Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) maintained as ‘underperform’ and estimates cut at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Amazon.com is up 15.6% at $226.64; Callaway Golf Co. (NYSE: ELY) is down -14.9% at $5.94 (our coverage here); Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is down -2.7% at $1.43; Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK) is down -25.5% at $51.78 after posting a new 52-week low of $51.03 (our coverage here); Weyerhaeuser Corp. (NYSE: WY) is down -0.3% at $20.81 (more coverage here); TransCanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP) is up 0.5% at $44.01; The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) is down -5.1% at $11.32; Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) is down -4% at $64.18 (our coverage here); Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE: NWL) is up 3.6% at $18.61; Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) is down -0.2% at $38.38; Helen of Troy Ltd. (NASDAQ: HELE) is up 4.4% at $35.33; Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is down -2.1% at $11.62 (our coverage here); and Covidien plc (NYSE: COV) is up 0.5% at $55.32.

Be sure to look at our list of next week’s big earnings.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) is up 0.2% at $106.44. The supermajor oil company reported earnings in line, but production was down. More coverage here.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: MDRX) is down -36% at $10.25 after posting a new 52-week low of $9.00. The healthcare services provider fired its chairman, and the list of woes goes on. More coverage here.

Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) is up 24.4% at $40.59. The Internet travel company posted better-than-expected quarterly results. More coverage here.

Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) is down -14.2% at $37.83. The disk drive maker had solid earnings, but worries abound about next quarter. More coverage here.

Stay tuned for Monday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – Personal income and spending
• 9:45 a.m. – Chicago PMI
• 10:30 a.m. – Dallas Fed manufacturing survey
• 11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month bill auctions
• 3:00 p.m. – Farm Prices

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Have a great weekend!

Paul Ausick

Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) Reiterated Buy with a target price of $55 at Argus.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) Maintained Underperform and cut estimates at Jefferies.

Allscripts Healthcare (NASDAQ: MDRX) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse; Cut to Equal-weight at Barclays.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML; Raised to Buy at Nomura; Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs; Maintained Hold but raised target to $230 at Canaccord Genuity.

Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (NASDAQ: AMCC) Cut to Hold at Wunderlich.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) Maintained Neutral but target cut at Credit Suisse.

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBG) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Constant Contact (NASDAQ: CTCT) Cut to Neutral at Janney; Cut to Market Perform William Blair.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK) Cut to Hold at Jefferies; Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $48 from $40 at Argus.

Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI) Raised to Outperform at BNP Paribas.

MetroPCS (NYSE: PCS) Cut to Hold at Argus; Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank; Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $94 from $88 at Argus.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) Cut to Market Perform at BMO.

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML; Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; Maintained Hold but cut target to $13 from $15 at Canaccord Genuity.

AAR Corporation (NYSE: AIR) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

If you enjoyed the top analyst upgrades and downgrades, you can join our free email newsletter that includes analyst summaries each morning sent right to your inbox.  We also cover top issues such as IPOs, special financial exclusives, mergers and more. Sign up in the box below.

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JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 114 points to 13,204.70 (0.87%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 21 points (0.69%) to 3,050.61, and the S&P 500 rose 0.67% or more than 9 points to 1,399.99.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) cut to ‘equal-weight’ at Morgan Stanley; ABB Ltd. (NYSE: ABB) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) raised to ‘overweight’ at Barclays; ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) raised to ‘neutral’ at Macquarie; and Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) maintained as ‘hold’ at Argus.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) is down -16.9% at $19.71 (our coverage here); Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is up 0.9% at $31.96 (our story here); Pepsico (NYSE: PEP) is down -0.3% at $66.44 (our story here); Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) is down -5.1% at $3.83 (our coverage here); Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is down -0.8% at $86.13 (our coverage here); Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is down -8.4% at $45.22; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is down -1.7% at $33.72; Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) is down -2.6% at $65.69; JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) is down -0.1% at $4.64; Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) is up 9.4% at $13.87; Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. (NYSE: MJN) is up XX% at $XX; Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) is up 4% at $86.38 after posting a new 52-week high of $87.26n earlier today; Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) is down -2.8% at $21.00; Stillwater Mining Co. (NYSE: SWC) is down -4.6% at $10.69; TASER International Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR) is up 5.7% at $4.39; United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) is down -1.8% at $78.25; and Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) is down -5% at $23.31.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Inergy L.P. (NYSE: NRGY) is up 17% at $19.71. The company is being acquired by Suburban Propane Partners LP (NYSE: SPH). More coverage here.

Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) is down -20.2% at $6.16. The wireless carrier fell sharply on disappointing quarterly results. More coverage here.

Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is down -14.8% at $33.03. The technology provider beat estimates but issued weak guidance.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – GDP report
• 8:30 a.m. – Employment cost index
• 9:55 a.m. – Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index

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Paul Ausick

Chrysler posts its best earnings since being partially taken over by Fiat. (Reuters)

Samsung says its new Galaxy phone will use a quad-core processor. (Reuters)

Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce and researchers from Harvard find that, for the first time in decades, young people are not better-educated than the generation before them. (WSJ)

AIG (NYSE: AIG) bonds attract a large number of investors. (WSJ)

The CEO of Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) says the company must mature to be more successful. (WSJ)

The China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology says foreign companies could team with China to produce rare earths. (WSJ)

The Senate passes legislation to underwrite Post Office losses and allow it to keep current services. (WSJ)

The UK falls back into recession in the first quarter. (WSJ)

The FDA will set a new system to detect faulty medical devices. (WSJ)

The European divisions of General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F) are likely to drag down corporate earnings. (WSJ)

US Airways (NYSE: LCC) continues a push for a buyout of American Airlines parent AMR. (WSJ)

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) raises forecasts. (WSJ)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to launch a new program hosted by Katie Couric. (WSJ)

Formula One plans a $2.5 billion IPO in Singapore. (WSJ)

Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) each raise dividends. (FT)

French presidential candidate François Hollande wants Germany to take up new stimulus plans for Europe. (FT)

Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ) shortens a waiting period for the Facebook IPO as a way to get the social network’s listing. (Bloomberg)

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) posts poor earnings, which drags down its shares. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre